Wireless authentication using OPACITY protocol

Abstract

Authentication using wireless keys simplifies the user daily life and opens the door to a number of promising applications in the area of pervasive computing, Internet of Things and Tactile Internet. However, this approach raises several research challenges, including but not limited to: which communication technology to use, how to guarantee the relevant security level, and, last but not the least, how to integrate the wireless authentication systems into already deployed authorization solutions. In this paper, we address the above mentioned questions by proposing a wireless authentication solution based on the NFC-capable smartphone and using OPACITY authentication protocol that is compatible with existing access control mechanisms in OS Windows 8. We start with qualitative comparison of Bluetooth, RFID and NFC technologies in terms of applicability for wireless authentication. We then describe the OPACITY protocol in general, and its adaptation to wireless authentication scenario. We finally present the high-level architecture of our solution and highlight some Windows OS specifics we faced during the reference implementation. We believe that demonstrated interoperability between wireless authentication solution and existing access control mechanisms in modern OS provides an important step towards further development of advanced authentication methods, based on wireless keys.